Providence News Cache, Vol 01 No 03 (Winter 1971)

VOL. I, NO. 3 • PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL • ANCHORAGE, ALASKA • WINTER 1971
The Sisters of Providence
Extend to O u r
DOCTORS, EMPLOYEES, PATIENTS, ADVISORY BOARD,
LADIES AUXILIARY, YELLOW-BIRDS, OUR CO-WORKERS AT
THE PROVIDENCE PROFESSIONAL BUILDING
AND THEIR FAMILIES
VERY BEST WISHES FOR
A BLESSED CHRISTMAS
and a
JOYOUS NEW YEAR
A LIFE
COMMITMENT
“I ’ll be 49 my next birthday,” says
Father Paul O’Connor smiling broadly
as he leans back in his leather chair.
This quick-witted, handsome Jesuit
priest has for over 40 years been a
teacher, spiritual mentor, friend and
inspiration to the Eskimos of the Low­er
Yukon Valley, the Bering Sea coast
and the Arctic.
After having studied at Gonzaga
University, Spokane; Fordham Univer­sity,
New York; and in England and FR. PAUL C. O'CONNOR. S.J.
France, Father O’Connor decided he
wanted to serve in Alaska.
“It has been traditional in the Jesuit
order,” Father explained drawing on
his pipe, “that when you consider vol­unteering
for missionary work, you
have to be willing to make a life-com-mitment.
This is the beauty of being
a missionary. You are not just spend­ing
two years at a mission and then
go out. The life-commitment also
helped me develop a better under­standing
of the Eskimos. They knew
that I was here just to serve them in
any way I could.”
(Cont. on Page 7)
D-DAY AT PROVIDENCE
Sister Evelyn Bergamini, administrator, signs an agreement with
David Pugh of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, signifying beginning
of $17 million program of expansion at Providence Hospital. Looking
on are Charles Webber, president of the hospital’s advisory board,
and Sister Ernestine Marie, provincial treasurer for the Sisters of
Providence.
PROVIDENCE NEWS CACHE
PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL
Anchorage, Alaska
Sister Evelyn Bergamini,
Administrator
A $17 million program of building
and expansion at Providence Hospital
was unveiled on December 2 as Sister
Evelyn B e r g ami n i , administrator,
signed a contract for the architectural
phase of the project. Also signing was
David Pugh, partner of the architect­ural
firm of Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, Portland, Oregon.
Using an oversized pencil with the
“bird of Providence” on top, Sister
Evelyn said, “Today is D-Day! We
have been planning and discussing our
expansion program for some time.
Now we are moving ahead.”
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, one
of the largest architectural firms in the
United States, has designed 240 medi-
Participating in press conference were (I. to r.) Jack Steinle, hos­pital
planner, New York City; Bertis Rasco, architect-in-charge of
the Providence program; David Pugh, Sister Evelyn, Charles Web­ber,
Sister Ernestine Marie, Daniel Meddleton, associate administra­tor,
and John P. Greeley, director of development for the Sisters of
Providence.
Jack Steinle discusses hospital
planning. Architect Bert Rasco
is at right.
cal centers and hospitals. Major offices
are in New York, Washington, D. C.,
Chicago, San Francisco and Portland.
Construction will include a new di­agnostic
and treatment center which
will house such facilities as radiology,
nuclear medicine, laboratory, and sur­gical
suites. There will be 127 new
patient beds and expansion of coron­ary
care unit, intensive care unit,
physical medicine-rehabilitation facili­ties,
power plant, pharmacy, and ad­ministrative
offices.
Federal and state hospital construc­tion
funds of $3.8 million have already
been committed to the project. The
Sisters of Providence will assume the
responsibility for the remaining funds.
The additional facilities are designed
to “maintain that proportionate re­sponsibility”
that Providence is now
assuming in providing health services
to the community said John Steinle of
New York, whose firm has planned
over 500 hospitals.
“This is not a competitive situation,”
Steinle explained during the press
conference when asked how the ex­pansion
of Providence relates to a pro­posal
to build a third hospital in Anch­orage
and also the proposed expansion
of existing facilities at Anchorage
Community Hospital. “Providence’s
RETIREES HONORED AT TEA
Honored for a total of 34 years of service at Providence Hospital
were (I. to r.) Miss Mary Mohr and Mrs. Catherine Morton. Corsages
were presented at Retirement Tea by Sisters Margaret Joan (left)
and Solange.
Press conference was attended
by representatives of news­papers,
television and radio.
program,” he continued, “will permit
it to serve the same proportion of An­chorage’s
population as it now serves
when the population increases to the
1975 projections.”
Sister Evelyn said that drawing
plans for the mamouth construction
Bert Rasco points out growth
patterns projected at Provi­dence
Hospital.
program will take months and that
construction will be two years. Provi­dence
will be the most extensive health
facility in Alaska when the new build­ing
is completed.
Two long-time employees at Providence Hospital were honored at a retire­ment
tea on November 23.
Miss Mary Mohr came to Providence in 1952, after having nursed for 18
years in South Dakota and Chicago. During the years she was assigned to several
different areas, primarily fourth and fifth floors.
Mrs. Catherine Morton, prior to moving to Alaska in 1935, had nursed at
two other hospitals of the Sisters of Providence: Providence, Seattle and Sacred
Heart, Spokane. She started in OB here in 1956. During the years she served as
OB Supervisor, Day Supervisor, Acting Director of Nursing. Mrs. Morton had
been Director of In-Service Training since 1967.
Pouring at the tea were Pat Kruse, Phyllis Holliday, Carolyn McCain and
Mildred Cruz.
FORTY-EIGHT YELLOW BIRDS
The Yellow Bird program (High School Medical Career Club) started in
November with 48 girls attending a two-hour orientation prior to working from
three to six hours a week on all floors. Students represent Service-Hanshew, East,
and Chugiak High Schools. The school and hospital are working more closely
this year with a hospital co-ordinator, Miss Joan Atherhoff, O.R. technician, Mrs.
Jaymie Felton, R.N., School co-ordinator, and Mrs. Mary Tomlon, as advisor.
The Yellow Bird program has helped provide a learning experience for the
students plus the extra hands and bright smile.
MAJOR BREAK-THROUGH IN CARE OF HEART PATIENT
NEW CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION LABORATORY
Heart catheterization laboratory team are ( I. to r.) Dr. James Baldauf, cardiologist; Gary Capps, assist­ant
chief technician and head of all special procedures; Dr. George Rhyneer, cardiologist; and Dr. Bruce
Wright, director of radiology.
A major break-through in medical
care for Alaskans will be made early
in January with the opening of a new
cardiac catheterization laboratory at
Providence Hospital. People with spec­ialized
heart problems, who in the past
have had to go outside for diagnosis,
will be able to have complete diagnos­tic
examinations utilizing over $80,000
of new equipment at Providence.
The heart catheterization laboratory
has been organized by Doctors James
Baldauf and George Rhyneer, both
cardiologists, working in conjunction
with Dr. Bruce Wright, director of
radiology at Providence.
If a patient is suspected of having
heart trouble, he would, up to the
present, have an electrocardiogram and
chest x-ray. Now it will be possible,
utilizing the four new pieces of equip­ment
which have been integrated with
existing x-ray facilities, to measure
blood pressure inside chambers of the
heart, blood flow and the anatomy of
the heart.
The equipment includes video-tape
recorder with instant-replay capabili­ties,
a machine which measures pres­sures
and blood flow and records them
graphically on paper, and a cathode-ray
oscilliscope which continuously
shows blood pressure on a TV type
screen.
“This special laboratory procedure
of heart catheterization,” Dr. Rhyneer
explained,” will help us determine if
the patient would be benefited by sur­gery.
You can measure blood pressure
in your arm with a cuff and a simple
piece of measuring apparatus. Or you
can measure blood pressure by putting
a needle in the artery in the arm
hooked up to an electrical device. We
will be able to extend that needle with
a plastic tube (called a catheter) all
the way up through the vein in the
arm, until it finally gets into the
heart.”
Dr. Baldauf pointed out that at the
end of the tube is an electrical device
which, when it enters into one of the
heart’s chambers, can measure the
pressure inside. “It is just like measur­ing
pressure inside a pump to deter­mine
if it is developing the proper
pressure or not,” Dr. Baldauf contin­ued.
“There are four chambers in the
heart and each has characteristic pres­sure
under normal circumstances. After
we measure the pressure in the first
chamber, we move the catheter along,
through one of the heart’s valves into
another heart chamber. The tube can
then be threaded out through another
heart valve into the artery, continue
on into the lungs where it can measure
blood pressure inside some of the
blood vessels in the lung.”
Doctors Rhyneer and Baldauf des­cribed
other uses of the new equip­ment.
If one of the valves in the heart
is narrow, only permitting a small
flow of blood, the pressure across the
valve can be accurately determined.
“This would mean that the valve is
diseased and we would recommend
corrective surgery.” Dr. Rhyneer said.
The laboratory procedure is done
under local anesthetic and this permits
the patient to move around, exercise,
raise a leg, etc. “There is just a slight
tickling senation as the tube is
through the heart. There is a direct C^nr\i W n n n c m n
relationship between pressure and w C l i y V V Q n Q o lT IO
flow.”
According to both doctors the pro­cedure
is “safe, painless and short.”
The patient would spend the night in
the hospital and have the test the
following morning. He would be dis­charged
the next day.
The team of doctors will also be
conducting another important proced­ure
in the new laboratory. The equip­ment
will be able to take special x-ray
pictures of the arteries that supply
Named Controller
Gary L. Wangsmo has been named
controller of Providence Hospital, it
has been announced by Sister Evelyn
Bergamini, administrator. Mr. Wangs­mo
has been senior accountant with
Arthur Andersen & Co., Certified
Public Accountants, Seattle.
Born in Everett, Wash., Mr. Wangs­mo
is a graduate of University of
Washington, majoring in accounting.
While with Arthur Andersen & Co.,
he specialized in the health services
industry. His work included audits, re­sponsibility
reporting and defining
cost centers, cost finding, budgeting
and rate review assistance, systems
review and revision, payroll reporting
systems and review of Medicare and
other third party reimbursement.
Mr. Wangsmo is a member of the
Elks, American Legion and Sigma Chi
Alumni Assoc. He and his wife will
be moving to Anchorage on Dec. 20th.
guided through the arteries or veins.”
Dr. Baldauf said. “By knowing the
landmarks, and with the help of a
television monitor, we can see the
tube, guide it up the arm into the
heart chambers, by carefully twisting
and turning it.” The x-ray machine
gives a steady constant image through
a built-in TV camera.
Blood flow can be measured and
watched by injecting a special solu­tion
into one of the chambers of the
heart and then watching on the TV
monitor. This provides a silhouette
outline of one of the chambers and
also shows the direction of the flow.
“If there were a hole in one of the
chambers,” Dr. Rhyneer said, “you
will see some of the fluid pass from
one chamber to the other across an
abnormal opening. Measuring the flow
also helps us determine if there is too
much or too little blood flowing
the heart muscle. “These are the art­eries
that are responsible for about 80
per cent of heart disease and 70 per
cent of the deaths in the US,” Dr.
Baldauf said.
To take these coronary arteriograms
(pictures of arteries of the heart), a
tube is put into the artery of the leg,
up through the aorta, chest, to the
heart. By hand, small amounts of so­lution
are squirted into the arteries
and x-ray motion pictures are taken.
Even when the laboratory is in full
operation, the patient who requires
surgery will still have to go outside.
“It takes time to develope an excel­lent
surgical-operating room team of
surgeons, anesthesiologist, cardiogist-internist
and nursing staff,” Dr. Rhy­neer
explained. “But Providence Hos­pital’s
new cardiac catheterization lab­oratory
is the first, concrete step to­ward
open heart surgery in Alaska.”
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ a g
| A SPECIAL
THANKS FOR
CHRISTMAS DUTY t
& £
^ &
# Once again while most of us g
<s will be enjoying Christmas at
^ home with family and friends, g
•{s many of our co-workers will be ty
^ on the job at the Hospital.
& Through this fine hospital tradi-
^ tion, the doors never close and ^
£ no one is neglected who needs $•
5 care. $&
-is Each of us who will be off- 4-
^ duty Christmas Day expresses ^
j* sincere personal appreciation to g
^ those who will remain at their ^
# work. We wish for them a special g
6 and enjoyable holiday season. ^
V *•
#■
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
FATHER O'CONNOR -
(Cont. from Page 1)
Father O’Connor came to Alaska in
1930. His first assignment was at Holy
Cross on the Yukon River. Later he
went to St. Mary’s at Akulurak near
the Bering Sea and finally to the new
St. Mary’s on the Andreafski. He spent
a total of 12 years at St. Mary’s and
helped to establish a high school there,
the first on the Yukon. His parishion­ers
were natives of more than 100 vil­lages
scattered over a tundra area
larger than the state of Washington.
Adjusting to primitive life was a
challenge, but Father O’Connor found
it an exciting one. He got along fam­ously
with the native boys and girls
at Holy Cross Mission. “They taught
me how to handle a dog team, to live
on the trail, and how to think and act
like an Eskimo,” he recalls.
His greatest joy was going up and
down the river by dog team, telling
parents how well their children were
doing in school. “If I exaggerated a
bit in my enthusiasm, I feel sure the
good Lord will forgive me,” he says.
This unusual priest’s influence has
been far reaching. He was an inspiring
lecturer and fund raiser. On tours
you get paid?” The answer of course
is no. During the year the Auxiliary
has sponsored four fund-raising activi­ties;
two holiday bake sales, one at
Easter and the other prior to Thanks­giving.
The total funds from these
sales came to $465. During October of
this year the Auxiliary sponsored an
Alaskan Art Show and Sale, the pro­ceeds
of which totalled $585. The or­ganization
also participated in the fall
Flea Market at the Anchorage Sports
Arena, and profits realized from this
event totalled $531, bringing the grand
total of monies earned to $1,581. All
funds raised by the Auxiliary are used
to purchase some of the many neces­sary
pieces of hospital equipment.
Total contributions to Providence Hos­pital
in the 10 year period from 1960
to 1970 — $55,376.
across the nation he charmed thou­sands
of dollars out of wallets and
purses for Eskimo mission work. His
eloquence helped to secure a $10 mil­lion
revolving fund from Congress for
housing in Alaska.
Father O’Connor is recognized as an
authority on Eskimo grammar, culture
and mores. “The Jesuits say that it
takes about 10 years to understand a
people. There is no question that you
have to learn the language if you
really want to know what the Eskimos
During winter months Father
O’Connor skis cross country
for an hour each day.
think. I had the opportunity to serve
them not only as an educator but also
through hunting, work, sports, play,
medicine and religion.”
He is the author of a book called
“Eskimo Parish” which describes his
life, travels and teachings among the
Eskimos. When he has a sabbatical, he
thinks he might write another about
“Understanding the Eskimos.”
While stationed at Kotzebue and
taking care of all the stations above
the Arctic Circle, as well as the Sea-bees
at Barrow during World War II,
Father O’Connor met Governor Gruen-ing
and told him about the poor hous­ing
for natives. He invited Father down
to Juneau and named him to the first
Alaska Housing Authority. During the
12 years he served as chairman of the
commission, he succeeded in getting
more than 600 homes built for the
Eskimo people.
After a short term as superior of
Copper Valley School, he came in 1965
to Providence Hospital as chaplain. He
works six days a week and is on call
24 hours a day. “You never know when
an emergency will arise,” he says. Ev­ery
day he visits all the patients at
Providence.
During the winter months he skiis
cross-country for an hour each day.
“I have my own trail around the hos­pital
property, and when I come back
I am perfectly refreshed.” In the sum­mer
he enjoys taking care of the flow­ers
all around the hospital grounds. He
also likes to play golf on his weekly
free day.
The National Bank of Alaska recent­ly
saluted him: “Alaskans pay tribute
to Father Paul O’Connor as an out­standing
intellectual, spiritual leader
and progressive citizen, whose life
work has been a major contribution to
the heritage of Alaska.” The life com­mitment
of service he made in 1930
still continues today.
QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM
Mr. Peter Deubel has completed a work measurement program in surgery.
This program is being followed up by a quality assurance program.
The quality assurance program will soon become effective in the operating
room. Mrs. Berta Speak, quality assurance coordinator, has been working closely
with Sister Stella Marie, supervisor, and Mrs. Virginia Kuhn, head nurse, surg­ery,
to develop a set of questions and a guide to evaluate procedures carried
out while a patient is undergoing surgery. The areas to be evaluated will be
patient welfare and comfort, environment of the operating room, patient docu­mentation,
nursing procedures and nursing work area.
MEET OUR 11 p.m. - 7 a.m. SHIFT . . .
We know it takes three shifts of employees to keep a hospital staffed 24 hours every day of the year.
Those who work through the night seldom have the opportunity of meeting their fellow employees. We
hope this photo helps!
First row (I. to r.) Perfecta C. Walters; Barbara T. Wihlborg; Edna M. Hestnes, night supervisor;
Lucille Johnson; Margarita Robles.
Second row (I. to r.) Paula Morris, Gloria Dungan, Mary Ellen Harrington, Marie Jones, Helen Mar­tin,
Susan Scaletta, Billie Root, J. Whitney, Mary Voetmann.
Third row (I. to r.) Ann Cavanagh, Louise Willman, Marilyn Pritchard, Margaret Rowley, Etta Wat­kins,
Cynthia Capper, Candice Paxson.
Fourth row (Z. to r.) Wanda Fritz, Elsbeth Olsen, Clara Jordan, Lou Jurek, Richard Smith.
Missing when photo was taken was John DeConter.
PROMOTING AND ADVANCING THE WELFARE OF PROVIDENCE
The purpose of Providence Hospital
Auxiliary is to promote and advance
the welfare of Providence Hospital.
This purpose is accomplished through
providing service to the hospital and
its patients and through fund-raising
activities. As the year draws to a close
and the Auxiliary reviews its purpose
and evaluates its success, several im­pressive
facts come to light. During the
past year two new services have been
initiated at Providence; that of the
Craft Cart and Floor Service, thus
bringing the total number of services
provided to nine. The other seven be­ing
Gift Shop, Gift Cart, Coffee Cart,
Baby Pictures, Admitting, Reception
PROVIDENCE
HOSPITAL
AUXILIARY
Desk, and Clerical. Both new services
have proven to be very popular with
both personnel and patients alike. Vol­unteers
who staff the Craft-Cart serv­ice
provide the instruction and material
(at no cost to the patient) for patients
to fill long hours with creative, artis­tic
and fun articles, i. e. toys, puppets,
models, paper flowers, pictures, mosa­ics,
and many other items too numer­ous
to list. Craft-Cart volunteers are
the persons who make those attractive
tray favors that appear without fail
on patient trays on every Holiday.
The volunteers who are seen hurry­ing
about the floors are members of
the floor service. Their job is to pro­vide
the extra pair of hands or feet
needed to do so many necessary jobs—
escorting discharged patients to their
cars, passing food trays, delivering
specimens to the lab, obtaining a news­paper
for a patient, assisting a lady in
brushing her hair, reading a story or
playing a game with a child. To this
date the total number of hours given
to in-hospital service is 3,802.
The one question most often asked
of the volunteer by patients is “Do
POTPOURRI . CHAPLAIN'S
Providence turned in $925 to this
year’s Community Chest, a substantial
increase over last year.
After two years as evening lab tech­nician,
Miss Susan Cullan is leaving to
join Hospital Ship Project Hope. All
her co-workers in the Lab wish her
success in this most worthy cause.
Mrs. Agnes Green was hired as the
new department head of housekeeping
to replace Mrs. Ellen Birdsall who re­tired.
A get-acquainted tea was given
to introduce her to the staff.
Miss Carol Terry, therapeutic dieti­tian,
is proudly displaying a new dia­mond
ring. She will be going to Cali­fornia
for Christmas.
COBALT CENTER
IS BENEFICIARY
Mrs. Marion Hudson, past
president of the Ladies Auxili­ary
of the Veterans of Foreign
Wars, Wasilla, Alaska, pre­sents
check for $ 2 5 0 to Sister
Evelyn for the Cobalt Center
at Providence.
PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL
3200 Providence Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
Raymond Sorensen, laundry, is the
proud father of a baby girl, Tanya An­nette,
born November 10.
An Open House was held recently in
the physical therapy department to in­troduce
staff members to the physic­ians.
The department also demonstra­ted
new techniques that the thera­pists
are capable of doing.
Ida Evans, dietary department, will
be visiting her family in Montana dur­ing
Christmas.
Holiday guests are already visiting
Miss Kay Sorensen, pharmacist. Her
mother arrived November 22 from
Denver for a long holiday visit.
Hawaiian sunshine beamed down on
Mrs. Joan Foster, administrative dieti­tian,
and her husband during the week
of Dec. 13.
On her vacation for a few days of
relaxation before the holidays was
Joyce Green, assistant housekeeper.
Francis Warren has transferred from
Seattle to join the housekeeping de­partment.
Mrs. Elouise Payne, physical therapy,
will be spending part of her Christmas-
New Year’s vacation in the Lower 48.
Miss Lauri Terrall, AMU student and
dietary employee was the featured
vocalist recently with the University
Christmas Concert Choral.
New faces in physical therapy: Carol
Crook and Christa Timm are working
as part-time therapists. Judy Pharris
works as an aide on an on—call basis.
Lester Glorioso is an on-call orderly.
Mary Anne Bassler, physical therapy
student at the University of Alaska,
will be filling in for Mrs. Payne dur­ing
Christmas vacation.
Girls in housekeeping will exchange
holiday gifts by drawing names. A
party is planned as part of the festivi­ties.
Mrs. Theda Decker, pharmacy tech­nician,
will be in Brownfield, Texas,
CORNER
FR. PAUL C. O'CONNER. S.J.
Someone has said that in and near
Anchorage is seven Switzerlands in
one. The mountains, the streams, the
trees, and in spring myriad wild flow­ers.
It is not hard to believe that God
made heaven and earth and filled them
with Himself.
Now we are made to the image of
God and we also fill our works with
OURSELVES either with our hate or
our love. We skip the hate element! It
is not worth bothering about. But when
we put love in our work there is
POWER in it — there is a soul in the
body.
When we love we walk hand in hand
with Almighty God. Our works be­come
immortal. When evil gets a grip
on the heart of man, it drives people
to destroy. But evil can never destroy
what it really wants to destroy — love.
Love has an eternal value. We can
destroy a beautiful flower, but never
the love that made it.
The concern by one of our nurses
for a lonely patient, a flashing smile,
just the arrangement of a pillow, are
not recorded in medical files, but they
live in the heart of a patient for a
long, long time. May I add that they
also live in the heart of God.
for the holidays to visit her and her
husband’s parents and also to attend
her sister’s wedding.
Zina Jacobson recently transferred
to housekeeping from dietary.
Agnes Lovell recently left house­keeping
because of health. All wish
her a speedy recovery.
Nursing service and physical therapy
are currently working on in-service
programs to be held for both staffs.
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Anchorage, Ak.
Permit No. 430
Return Requested

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VOL. I, NO. 3 • PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL • ANCHORAGE, ALASKA • WINTER 1971
The Sisters of Providence
Extend to O u r
DOCTORS, EMPLOYEES, PATIENTS, ADVISORY BOARD,
LADIES AUXILIARY, YELLOW-BIRDS, OUR CO-WORKERS AT
THE PROVIDENCE PROFESSIONAL BUILDING
AND THEIR FAMILIES
VERY BEST WISHES FOR
A BLESSED CHRISTMAS
and a
JOYOUS NEW YEAR
A LIFE
COMMITMENT
“I ’ll be 49 my next birthday,” says
Father Paul O’Connor smiling broadly
as he leans back in his leather chair.
This quick-witted, handsome Jesuit
priest has for over 40 years been a
teacher, spiritual mentor, friend and
inspiration to the Eskimos of the Low­er
Yukon Valley, the Bering Sea coast
and the Arctic.
After having studied at Gonzaga
University, Spokane; Fordham Univer­sity,
New York; and in England and FR. PAUL C. O'CONNOR. S.J.
France, Father O’Connor decided he
wanted to serve in Alaska.
“It has been traditional in the Jesuit
order,” Father explained drawing on
his pipe, “that when you consider vol­unteering
for missionary work, you
have to be willing to make a life-com-mitment.
This is the beauty of being
a missionary. You are not just spend­ing
two years at a mission and then
go out. The life-commitment also
helped me develop a better under­standing
of the Eskimos. They knew
that I was here just to serve them in
any way I could.”
(Cont. on Page 7)
D-DAY AT PROVIDENCE
Sister Evelyn Bergamini, administrator, signs an agreement with
David Pugh of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, signifying beginning
of $17 million program of expansion at Providence Hospital. Looking
on are Charles Webber, president of the hospital’s advisory board,
and Sister Ernestine Marie, provincial treasurer for the Sisters of
Providence.
PROVIDENCE NEWS CACHE
PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL
Anchorage, Alaska
Sister Evelyn Bergamini,
Administrator
A $17 million program of building
and expansion at Providence Hospital
was unveiled on December 2 as Sister
Evelyn B e r g ami n i , administrator,
signed a contract for the architectural
phase of the project. Also signing was
David Pugh, partner of the architect­ural
firm of Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, Portland, Oregon.
Using an oversized pencil with the
“bird of Providence” on top, Sister
Evelyn said, “Today is D-Day! We
have been planning and discussing our
expansion program for some time.
Now we are moving ahead.”
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, one
of the largest architectural firms in the
United States, has designed 240 medi-
Participating in press conference were (I. to r.) Jack Steinle, hos­pital
planner, New York City; Bertis Rasco, architect-in-charge of
the Providence program; David Pugh, Sister Evelyn, Charles Web­ber,
Sister Ernestine Marie, Daniel Meddleton, associate administra­tor,
and John P. Greeley, director of development for the Sisters of
Providence.
Jack Steinle discusses hospital
planning. Architect Bert Rasco
is at right.
cal centers and hospitals. Major offices
are in New York, Washington, D. C.,
Chicago, San Francisco and Portland.
Construction will include a new di­agnostic
and treatment center which
will house such facilities as radiology,
nuclear medicine, laboratory, and sur­gical
suites. There will be 127 new
patient beds and expansion of coron­ary
care unit, intensive care unit,
physical medicine-rehabilitation facili­ties,
power plant, pharmacy, and ad­ministrative
offices.
Federal and state hospital construc­tion
funds of $3.8 million have already
been committed to the project. The
Sisters of Providence will assume the
responsibility for the remaining funds.
The additional facilities are designed
to “maintain that proportionate re­sponsibility”
that Providence is now
assuming in providing health services
to the community said John Steinle of
New York, whose firm has planned
over 500 hospitals.
“This is not a competitive situation,”
Steinle explained during the press
conference when asked how the ex­pansion
of Providence relates to a pro­posal
to build a third hospital in Anch­orage
and also the proposed expansion
of existing facilities at Anchorage
Community Hospital. “Providence’s
RETIREES HONORED AT TEA
Honored for a total of 34 years of service at Providence Hospital
were (I. to r.) Miss Mary Mohr and Mrs. Catherine Morton. Corsages
were presented at Retirement Tea by Sisters Margaret Joan (left)
and Solange.
Press conference was attended
by representatives of news­papers,
television and radio.
program,” he continued, “will permit
it to serve the same proportion of An­chorage’s
population as it now serves
when the population increases to the
1975 projections.”
Sister Evelyn said that drawing
plans for the mamouth construction
Bert Rasco points out growth
patterns projected at Provi­dence
Hospital.
program will take months and that
construction will be two years. Provi­dence
will be the most extensive health
facility in Alaska when the new build­ing
is completed.
Two long-time employees at Providence Hospital were honored at a retire­ment
tea on November 23.
Miss Mary Mohr came to Providence in 1952, after having nursed for 18
years in South Dakota and Chicago. During the years she was assigned to several
different areas, primarily fourth and fifth floors.
Mrs. Catherine Morton, prior to moving to Alaska in 1935, had nursed at
two other hospitals of the Sisters of Providence: Providence, Seattle and Sacred
Heart, Spokane. She started in OB here in 1956. During the years she served as
OB Supervisor, Day Supervisor, Acting Director of Nursing. Mrs. Morton had
been Director of In-Service Training since 1967.
Pouring at the tea were Pat Kruse, Phyllis Holliday, Carolyn McCain and
Mildred Cruz.
FORTY-EIGHT YELLOW BIRDS
The Yellow Bird program (High School Medical Career Club) started in
November with 48 girls attending a two-hour orientation prior to working from
three to six hours a week on all floors. Students represent Service-Hanshew, East,
and Chugiak High Schools. The school and hospital are working more closely
this year with a hospital co-ordinator, Miss Joan Atherhoff, O.R. technician, Mrs.
Jaymie Felton, R.N., School co-ordinator, and Mrs. Mary Tomlon, as advisor.
The Yellow Bird program has helped provide a learning experience for the
students plus the extra hands and bright smile.
MAJOR BREAK-THROUGH IN CARE OF HEART PATIENT
NEW CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION LABORATORY
Heart catheterization laboratory team are ( I. to r.) Dr. James Baldauf, cardiologist; Gary Capps, assist­ant
chief technician and head of all special procedures; Dr. George Rhyneer, cardiologist; and Dr. Bruce
Wright, director of radiology.
A major break-through in medical
care for Alaskans will be made early
in January with the opening of a new
cardiac catheterization laboratory at
Providence Hospital. People with spec­ialized
heart problems, who in the past
have had to go outside for diagnosis,
will be able to have complete diagnos­tic
examinations utilizing over $80,000
of new equipment at Providence.
The heart catheterization laboratory
has been organized by Doctors James
Baldauf and George Rhyneer, both
cardiologists, working in conjunction
with Dr. Bruce Wright, director of
radiology at Providence.
If a patient is suspected of having
heart trouble, he would, up to the
present, have an electrocardiogram and
chest x-ray. Now it will be possible,
utilizing the four new pieces of equip­ment
which have been integrated with
existing x-ray facilities, to measure
blood pressure inside chambers of the
heart, blood flow and the anatomy of
the heart.
The equipment includes video-tape
recorder with instant-replay capabili­ties,
a machine which measures pres­sures
and blood flow and records them
graphically on paper, and a cathode-ray
oscilliscope which continuously
shows blood pressure on a TV type
screen.
“This special laboratory procedure
of heart catheterization,” Dr. Rhyneer
explained,” will help us determine if
the patient would be benefited by sur­gery.
You can measure blood pressure
in your arm with a cuff and a simple
piece of measuring apparatus. Or you
can measure blood pressure by putting
a needle in the artery in the arm
hooked up to an electrical device. We
will be able to extend that needle with
a plastic tube (called a catheter) all
the way up through the vein in the
arm, until it finally gets into the
heart.”
Dr. Baldauf pointed out that at the
end of the tube is an electrical device
which, when it enters into one of the
heart’s chambers, can measure the
pressure inside. “It is just like measur­ing
pressure inside a pump to deter­mine
if it is developing the proper
pressure or not,” Dr. Baldauf contin­ued.
“There are four chambers in the
heart and each has characteristic pres­sure
under normal circumstances. After
we measure the pressure in the first
chamber, we move the catheter along,
through one of the heart’s valves into
another heart chamber. The tube can
then be threaded out through another
heart valve into the artery, continue
on into the lungs where it can measure
blood pressure inside some of the
blood vessels in the lung.”
Doctors Rhyneer and Baldauf des­cribed
other uses of the new equip­ment.
If one of the valves in the heart
is narrow, only permitting a small
flow of blood, the pressure across the
valve can be accurately determined.
“This would mean that the valve is
diseased and we would recommend
corrective surgery.” Dr. Rhyneer said.
The laboratory procedure is done
under local anesthetic and this permits
the patient to move around, exercise,
raise a leg, etc. “There is just a slight
tickling senation as the tube is
through the heart. There is a direct C^nr\i W n n n c m n
relationship between pressure and w C l i y V V Q n Q o lT IO
flow.”
According to both doctors the pro­cedure
is “safe, painless and short.”
The patient would spend the night in
the hospital and have the test the
following morning. He would be dis­charged
the next day.
The team of doctors will also be
conducting another important proced­ure
in the new laboratory. The equip­ment
will be able to take special x-ray
pictures of the arteries that supply
Named Controller
Gary L. Wangsmo has been named
controller of Providence Hospital, it
has been announced by Sister Evelyn
Bergamini, administrator. Mr. Wangs­mo
has been senior accountant with
Arthur Andersen & Co., Certified
Public Accountants, Seattle.
Born in Everett, Wash., Mr. Wangs­mo
is a graduate of University of
Washington, majoring in accounting.
While with Arthur Andersen & Co.,
he specialized in the health services
industry. His work included audits, re­sponsibility
reporting and defining
cost centers, cost finding, budgeting
and rate review assistance, systems
review and revision, payroll reporting
systems and review of Medicare and
other third party reimbursement.
Mr. Wangsmo is a member of the
Elks, American Legion and Sigma Chi
Alumni Assoc. He and his wife will
be moving to Anchorage on Dec. 20th.
guided through the arteries or veins.”
Dr. Baldauf said. “By knowing the
landmarks, and with the help of a
television monitor, we can see the
tube, guide it up the arm into the
heart chambers, by carefully twisting
and turning it.” The x-ray machine
gives a steady constant image through
a built-in TV camera.
Blood flow can be measured and
watched by injecting a special solu­tion
into one of the chambers of the
heart and then watching on the TV
monitor. This provides a silhouette
outline of one of the chambers and
also shows the direction of the flow.
“If there were a hole in one of the
chambers,” Dr. Rhyneer said, “you
will see some of the fluid pass from
one chamber to the other across an
abnormal opening. Measuring the flow
also helps us determine if there is too
much or too little blood flowing
the heart muscle. “These are the art­eries
that are responsible for about 80
per cent of heart disease and 70 per
cent of the deaths in the US,” Dr.
Baldauf said.
To take these coronary arteriograms
(pictures of arteries of the heart), a
tube is put into the artery of the leg,
up through the aorta, chest, to the
heart. By hand, small amounts of so­lution
are squirted into the arteries
and x-ray motion pictures are taken.
Even when the laboratory is in full
operation, the patient who requires
surgery will still have to go outside.
“It takes time to develope an excel­lent
surgical-operating room team of
surgeons, anesthesiologist, cardiogist-internist
and nursing staff,” Dr. Rhy­neer
explained. “But Providence Hos­pital’s
new cardiac catheterization lab­oratory
is the first, concrete step to­ward
open heart surgery in Alaska.”
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THANKS FOR
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